N.C. State Women’s Basketball tops Georgia Tech, 84-75 on Thursday:#3 Pack(9-0/4-0) helped by Elissa Cunane(Northern Guilford HS) with 11 pts., 4 rebounds and 2 assists

Elissa Cunane, from Northern Guilford High School, helped N.C. State capture their ninth/9th victory of the season on Thursday night, with her 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists…..The N.C. State Wolfpack women were victorious over the Georgia Tech Yellowjackts, 84-75…..

from www.gopack.com:

ATLANTA – The third-ranked NC State women’s basketball team closed out the 2020 calendar year with a win as it beat Georgia Tech 84-75 Thursday evening inside the McCamish Pavilion.

The Wolfpack improved to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in league play behind a stellar performance off the bench by Jada Boyd. After sitting out four games earlier this season due to an injury, the sophomore returned to her usual form with her third career double-double to lead NC State in scoring (career-high 26 points) and tie for the team lead in rebounding (10 boards).

Three other members of the Wolfpack joined her in double figures – Jakia Brown-Turner (19), Kayla Jones (14) and Elissa Cunane (11). Jones joined in on the double-double action with 10 rebounds of her own, and she and Cunane also added two steals apiece.

As a team, the Pack shot 53.3 percent (32-of-62) on the night. NC State has now put together shooting percentages of better than 50 percent for two outings in a row and a total of four games this season.

NC State never trailed in a contest that it took early control of. The Pack doubled the Yellow Jackets’ score (26-13) in the first quarter after shooting 12-of-17 (.706) from the floor. The team went on to score 15 of the first 17 points of the second quarter and led by 29 points (54-25) at the break. It marked NC State’s second league game in a row with a halftime lead of that magnitude.

Boyd was extremely efficient in the first half, with her 14 points and six rebounds at the break coming in just eight minutes of court time. She, Jones and Brown-Turner combined for 41 of the Pack’s first-half points with a collective 16-of-18 (.889) shooting clip.

Georgia Tech shot just 5-of-19 (.263) in the second quarter. Despite owning scoring advantages in the final two periods, the Yellow Jackets were unable to get closer than 15 points until the final two and a half minutes of the game. Lotta Maj-Lahtinen led all players on the floor with 30 points and 11 rebounds.

The victory marked the Pack’s sixth in a row in Atlanta and sent the team to 2021 with an unblemished record.

**********NC State returns home on Sunday, Jan. 3 to play host to Boston College for its second regular-season matchup with the Eagles. Tip-off from Kay Yow Court inside Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on the ACC Network.**********